Device for the manufacture of bundled fire-lighters.



W. B. PINGHING.

DEVICE FOR THE MAN UFAGTURB 0F BUNDLED FIRE LIGHTERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-9, 1907.

964,549 Patented July 19, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1n: NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, n-c

W. B. -PINOHING. DEVICE FOR THE MANUFAGTURE OF BUNDLED FIRE LIGHTERS.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.9, 1907.

Patented July 19, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ill/[1m W. B. PINCHING. DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BUNDLED FIRE LIGHTERS.

APPLICATION FILED RIM, 190?.

964,548,, Patented July 19, 1910.

3 BHEBTS-SHBET 3.

THE mamas PETERS can, WASHINGTON, u c.

l l I s WILLIAM BENJAMIN PINCHING, OF PALMERS GREEN, ENGLAND.

DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BUNDLED FIRE-LIGHTERS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BENJAMIN PINoHiNe, of 46 Eaton Park road, Palmers Green, in the county of Middlesex, England, engineer, have invented a certain new and useful Device for the Manufacture of Bundled F ire-Lighters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bundled firelighters of the kind made by grouping a number of laths into the desired formation, grooving said grouped laths transversely so as to form an annular groove in each firelighter section, securing the laths of each fire-lighter section together by binding in said grooves, and subsequently dividing the grouped laths into transverse sections to form the fire-lighters.

The machine or apparatus which forms the subject of my invention comprises a gripping box or boxes in or by which the bundle of grouped laths is automatically fed intermittently toward a grooving device which travels around said bundle so as to circumferentially groove the same. The gripping box is divided into three sections the first and third of which are stationary while the middle one is capable of a reciprocatory motion so as to feed the laths from the one section to the other, and de vices are provided for causing said sections to cooperate with each other by mechanically actuating their grippers at the proper times relatively to each other.

The grouping device comprises a cutter mounted in a slot in a rotary wheel and provided with a spring and with means acting in opposition'to said spring, for respectively moving said cutter toward and from the work.

In order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, I will now describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the features of the invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the right hand side of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation taken approximately on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. '3 is a detail of Fig. 3. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional. elevation taken approximately on the line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the left hand side of Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference indicate simi- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 9, 1907.

Patented July 1%, 1910.

Serial No. 356,646.

lar parts throughout the several views, in which A indicates generally the frame of the machine.

B is a cam shaft whereby the several parts are controlled.

1 is the first section, in the order of progress of the wood, of the aforesaid box, said section being hereinafter referred to as the first gripping box. C is the gripper carried by said box. 2 is the second or middle section, hereinafter termed the second gripping box. D D are the grippers carried by said gripping box 2. 3 is the third section, hereinafter termed the third gripping box. E E are the grippers carried by, or pertaining to, the gripping box 3.

F is the grooving saw. H the string drum or spool, and J indicates the severing saw carried by a rocking bar K which is caused to reciprocate by any suitable means.

In carrying the invention into operation, a number of laths, previously cut to suitable dimensions, are grouped into bundles or fagots of the desired cross section and fed to the gripping box 1. Said gripping box is stationary and comprises the gripper C which consists of a number of housings c, c, disposed circularly about the axis of the box and having double grooved pulleys o c the disposition of which is similar to that of the corresponding pulleys in the grippers D D hereinafter to be described. In the grooves of the pulleys c 0 runs a rope 0 preferably of wire, having two convolutions as shown, said rope also passing over a pulley 0 carried by a hand operated releasing lever 0 Said releasing lever works in conjunction with a quadrant 0 having a series of perforations or the like 0 c to any one of which the hand lever 0* can be shifted according to the degree of release or tension desired, a spring bolt 0 being provided on said lever to engage with the adjacent perforations e. The ends of the rope c are carried over sheaves c c and are secured to a tightening or gripping lever c which is actuated by the cam shaft B through the intervention of a lever b, pivoted at b and having a't its free end a cam surface 6 which rides under an antifriction roller 0 mounted on the shorter arm 0 of the gripping lever 0-, Fig. 2, which is pivoted at 0 The arrangement is such that the cam shaft 13 brings the gripping lever 0 into position for tightening the ropes 0 and consequently closing the jaws or grip blocks of the gripper C upon the bundle of wood at the proper times, that is to say, immediately upon the arrival of said bundle in the first gripping box, and afterward in the intervals of rest between the intermittent movements of said'bundle.

The second gripping box 2 is located slightly in the rear of the box 1, and has two grippers D D these grippers are similar to each other in construction, and, like the gripper C, comprise housings (Z (Z in which are mounted the grooved pulleys (Z that carry the ropes (Z Said pulleys are journaled in lugs or brackets upon the outer ends of the grip blocks or jaws d which are enlarged at their inner ends, as shown, and are controlled by springs (Z tending constantly to press them radially outward. that is, away from the bundle which enters the gripping box. The second gripping box 2 is adapted to be slid, within the limits of space between the first and third gripping boxes 1 and 3, by means of arms d which are mounted 011 a rocking shaft d and are connected by means of links al to lugs (Z on the gripping box 2. The box 2 is provided with guide apertures in lateral lugs d, Fig. 3, which slide over guide rods c fixed front and back to the stationary gripping boxes 1 and 3, as shown in Fig. 1. It will be noticed that the grippers are in duplicate to provide an eflicient support for the laths after they have been relinquished by the first gripping box. There are also provided, in duplicate (see Fig. 3) pairs of guiding sheaves 11 carried on the bifurcated ends of a gripping lever (Z operated by a lever 6 i this latter is actuated at the proper times from the cam shaft B in manner similar to that above described in connection with the corresponding parts 0 c and lever Z). During the time that the second gripping box 2 v is traveling toward the first box 1, a movement that is accomplished quickly, the bundle within the said first gripping box is firmly held thereby to prevent it from being pushed backward by the box 2. lVhen, however, the box 2 reaches the box 1 in readiness for engaging the forwardly protruding end (not shown) of the bundle, the mechanical releasing device operated by the rise of the lever 0 releasing the cord 0 around the circumference of the box 1 comes into play and permits the box 2- to return-that is to say, to move forwardly and thereby to advance the bundle through the requisite distance. This return or advance movement of the box 2 is efiected somewhat more slowly than its The said gripping box 3 has its grippers E, E arranged beyond its extreme forward end, and before reaching said grippers the wood is obliged to pass the grooving saw F.

The box 3 comprises at its rearward part a hollow cylinder or drum on which are mounted, with the intervention of a suitable bushing g, spur wheels 9 g and driving pulley 9 The spur wheel 9 is driven by any suitable gearing from the main shaft of the machine and it is provided with a radial.

slot 9* in which is mounted the spindle f of the grooving saw F. Said spindle f is adjustable within the limits of the slot 9* and is loosely retained in place by means of a nut and washer f On the side of the spur wheel g remote from the grooving saw, the spindle f carries a pinion g which is geared with the spur wheel 9 through an idle pinion 9 suitably mounted with the intervention of ball bearings (not shown) on a spindle f carried by the spur wheel 9 (see Fig. 4). As the spur wheel 9 revolves the grooving saw F is carried around with it and is at the same time rotated by means of the spur wheel 9 about its own axis so as to cut a circumferential groove in the protruding portion of the bundle immediately below it. The said saw is pressed to its work by means of a spring f acting upon a lever f Said lever is freely pivoted on the spindle f and has one of its arms secured to the spindle f of the grooving saw F, while its other arm extends into the path of the rollers journaled to the arms of a star wheel 7" also carried by the spur wheel 9 As shown, this star wheel has six arms, only three of which are used at the same time. These arms are fitted with the rollers f aforesaid, and are provided with sets of holes f f f arranged at difi'erent distances from the center there being two such holes in every other arm and a single hole in each intermediate arm so that as the groov ing saw F wears down, the rollers can be adj usted correspondingly to cause the lever to be moved the required amount. The starwheel f during the rotation of the gear 9 is tripped or moved angularly by having each of its arms brought successively into engagement with a lever f which is at proper intervals of time, actuated through a spring-controlled plunger If by means of a cam b on the cam-shaft B, each upward movement of said plunger having the effect of moving the lever f into the path of the star-wheel f so that for every revolution of gear g the star-wheel f is rotated through the angle between one arm and the next. During these successive angular rotations, the lever f is alternately oscillated on its pivot f by one of the cam rollers f carried by the arms of the star-wheel against the resistance of spring F. The saw F is thus permitted to be drawn down upon the work by the spring f and again removed out of the line of axial movement of the work by one of said cam rollers f to permit the work to be fed forward preparatory to another cut. By the time the work has been ad vanced, the lever f is again moved into the path of the star-wheel to rotate it so that during the continued revolution of the spurwheel 9 the grooving saw F is successively thrown into and out of the position shown in Figs. 4t and 5. After each feed of the bundle through the cylinder E the lever f is released by the star wheel f and the grooving saw is brought into action, and when said saw has formed the groove it is brought back into its inoperative positionthat is, out of contact with the bundle. The string is led from the spool H through guides (not shown) consisting preferably of eyes set immediately above the groove. By the continued rotation of the spur wheel g by which said spool H is carried, this string is wound about the bundle just where the groove has been made, said groove being of such formation that the string is frictionally retained thereby when pressed or jammed thereinto and therefore tying of the string may be dispensed with. After the binding operation, the bundle passes on to the grippers E, E by which it is held while a severing saw J (see Fig. 1), of any suitable kind, and which is carried by a swinging arm K, cuts off a portion corresponding with the length of one lighter. The severed lighter may then be taken to an immersion tank where it is dipped into liquid resin or the like inflammable substance. The grippers E, E are similar to the grippers C and D, inasmuch as they comprise housings c, pulleys c and spring controlled grip blocks or jaws e e and are actuated by ropes 6 passing over sheaves e in manner similar to that above described in connection with the grippers C and D (see Figs. 1 and 5).

The operation of the machine may be made practically continuous either by providing a suitable feeding table (not shown in the drawings), or by feeding the bundled laths in close succession by hand.

Claims:

1. In a machine for manufacturing bundled fire-lighters, means for clamping and feeding the bundled laths longitudinally through the machine; means for grooving said bundles transversely to form an annular groove for binding cord around the bundle; and means for transversely dividing the bundled laths into sections.

2. In a machine for manufacturing bundled fire-lighters, the combination of a pair of stationary gripping boxes adapted to receive bundled laths, of a reciprocatory gripping-box interposed between the said stationary gripping boxes, radially movable clamping means secured to each of said gripping boxes, and means for automatically moving said clamping means into and out of clamping position.

3. In a machine for manufacturing bundled fire-lighters, the combination of a pair of stationary gripping boxes adapted to receive bundled laths, of a reciprocatory gripping-box interposed between the said stationary gripping boxes, each of said gripping boxes having radially movable clamping members, and means for alternately moving the clamping members of the stationary and reciprocatory gripping boxes, into and out of clamping position, whereby the bundled laths will intermittently be moved forward.

l. In a device for the manufacture of bundled fire-lighters, the combination with a stationary gripping-box for clamping bundles of laths; of a gear adapted to rotate on the axis of said gripping-box; a grooving saw mounted upon said gear and adapted to be moved radially toward and away from the center thereof; means for rotating the grooving saw; and means for moving it toward and away from the axis of the gripping-box.

5. In a device for manufacturing bundled fire-lighters, the combination of a stationary gripping-box adapted to hold bundled laths; a gear rotating on the axis of the same and provided with a radial slot; a grooving saw slidably mounted in said slot and carried by a lever pivoted upon the gear; and means connected with the lever by which the saw is caused to approach and recede from the axis of the gripping-box.

6. In a device for manufacturing bundled fire-lighters, the combination with a stationary gripping-box adapted to clamp a bundle of laths; of an annular gear rotating about the axis of said gripping-box and provided with a radially-extending slot; a lever pivotally mounted upon said gear intermediate of its ends and having one end thereof slidably engaging said slot; a rotating grooving-saw carried by the slot-enga ing end of said lever and pulled toward the axis of the gear by a spring; and an intermittently movable star-wheel provided with means for engaging the other end of said lever at varying distances from the center of said star-wheel.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM BENJAMIN PlNCIlING.

)Vitnesses IV. A. RYLANDS, G. WARD. 

